Finding your Blogging Voice

In the social media world, content is king. As social media managers, we are told that if we write good, strong (keyword optimized) content, “they” will read it. In the social media world, this means, of course, that in order to succeed, one must learn the fine art of blogging. As a social media consultant, when working with clients to determine their goals and objectives for creating a social media strategy, I advocate creating a blog to help them connect with their audience. I have always believed this is good advice and when I started working in social media, I also created a blog. At the beginning, I would spend hours researching, reading and writing articles and blog posts only to re-read what I wrote thinking that it really didn’t sound like me. Like many of my clients, this was the part I was having trouble with – finding my own unique, online voice.

It’s easy to sit down with clients and help them to figure out what their target market is, what tools to use to determine ROI, what social media platforms would be best suited to help get their message out. With clients, who depend on our expertise to guide them into the rough waters of social media, it’s easy (maybe a little too easy) to try to play the expert. And while we, as social media managers, do need to portray an air of skill and authority to a certain degree, but we also need to remember that our client, the one who interacts each and everyday with the customer, is really the expert. It is this advice I give to clients when encouraging them to blog:

Be genuine and authentic – write like you talk (with good grammar and punctuation)

Exude confidence in yourself (not arrogance) so people will want to join you in your community

Be consistent – blog regularly, at least two or three times a week

Provide good quality content – something helpful and useful

Write from the heart

Invite, respond and welcome

I truly believe this is the right advice when trying to engage your audience in your own voice. It is important to remember that you don’t need for everybody to read your blog but for those who do, you want them to believe what you’re saying and help spread the word to others who will also want to listen and engage with what you have to say.

So how did I find my voice? I’m not a techie, I can’t design a website nor do I have a multi-million dollar company to back me up in creating wide-ranging marketing and SEO strategy so how could I spend hours researching these topics to write blogs while trying to sound genuine and real. In my reality, I’m the owner of a small social media marketing agency who has the time to listen honestly to what my clients’ needs are and then work my best to help them achieve their goals. It is this thought which allowed me to recognize what my strengths and weaknesses are and to embrace them both. It is this thought that allowed me to find my blogging voice. And it is with this voice that I can now, hopefully, blog and connect with my clients in earnest and help guide them through this brave new world of social media. Just like my clients, I am the expert in my own situation (but just don’t call me a guru).

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Melissa Reyes
Mom, Twitter addict, full-time social media manager and the owner of Social Amateur, a consulting company focused on helping small businesses navigate the world of social media marketing.